Healing
by no cure for crazy
Summary: If there's one thing she needs after all this, it's the serene feel of her cabin – that feeling of home that she doesn't get anywhere else.


An: This was written based off of two of the same headcanons I've been writing for, simply for the fact that I've gotten more than one idea for them. Which is basically a miracle for me, considering how busy and stressed I've been.

Disclaimer: I'm not Ally Carter. I own nothing.

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><p><em>279: Macey has her own safe house that reminds her of Joe's cabin that she goes to, sometimes with Preston, when she just needs to get away. <em>

_427: After Macey gets accepted into the secret service, she gets placed with the president's daughter. On a cold night in D.C. someone plans to kill the daughter. Macey ends up taking the bullet – just like Abby did for her. _

Healing

She opens her eyes slowly against the bright glare of the room. The first thing she notices is the sharp pain that shoot through her chest. She grimaces slightly against the pain but quickly pushes it away. Not wanting to dwell on it for too long.

It takes a moment but her eyes finally adjust and she takes in her surroundings. She's in an unfamiliar room. Everything's white and clean.

_Hospital_ is the first thing that pops in her head. She must be in the hospital. She takes a minute to try and figure out why she ended up here.

She remembers the gunshot ringing out through the night and falling to the hard pavement with a thud. She was shot, that much she knows for sure – if the pain in her side and chest is any constellation.

She slowly turns her head and her gaze falls on the boy who sits at her bedside. Concern etched onto his face.

It's Preston. Of course he'd be the one to be here when she wakes up. She doesn't know how he's here or how he found out. But she's still glad to see him.

If he wasn't, she's sure he'd be the first person she asks for.

She already feels a bit better with just his presence. He always has that effect on her. Of course she would never admit that she relies so much on him.

"Hey," he says, softly.

Macey offers a small smile. "Hey yourself."

"How are you feeling?" he asks.

"Aside from the sharp shooting pain? I'd say I'm fine," Macey tells him, realizing it's best to just be honest with him.

She tries to slowly push herself up into a sitting position, ignoring the pain that shoots through her. She grimaces and falls back against the pillows.

"Do you need anything? Should I get a nurse?"

He makes to push the call button but she grabs his hand, stopping him. She knows the nurse needs to come eventually to come up on her and make sure everything's alright. But for now she's content to just laying there with Preston by her side.

She can be poked and prodded later.

"Wait," she tells him. "Not yet."

Instead he presses the button that lets her bed move slightly forward until it's sitting at an angle. He pulls his hand back and takes her hand in his own. She's stubborn and she knows that – so does he but he still manages to put up with her.

"Do you remember anything?" he asks slowly as if he's not sure he should be asking that question.

Macey shakes her head. "Not much…just the gun, running, a scream and then everything's blank. Then I woke up here."

He rubs soothing circles over the back of her palm, comforting her in ways words can't.

"When I saw the news, I thought –"he trails off.

_So the shooting must have made national news already. _

Of course it did, it was an assassination attempt on the president's daughter, after all.

Macey squeezes his hand. "I'm still here Preston, and I'm not going anywhere," she tells him. "One bullet isn't going to take me down."

She tries making light of the situation but she knows it'll be a while before he feels comfortable with jokes about this. Hell, it'll be a while before he starts to even believe she'll be okay.

She takes a moment. "Let's just talk about something else."

"That's easier said than done with it's all you see when you turn on the television," Preston tells her. As if to prove her point, he takes the remote and flips the television monitor on.

She turns her head and she's met with a CNN news story glaring back at her.

_Secret Service Agent shot in the line of duty, _moves across the bottom of the screen.

"…was shot in an attempt assassination attempt on the president's daughter. It's known that the president and his family are safe in an unknown location. The fate of the agent is still unknown – it was last released that she was in critical condition. The person or persons involved are still unknown. More as the story unfolds."

Macey leans her head back against the pillow. The fact that she was that close to death slightly scares her.

The sound of the door opening pulls her head towards the left. She sees a nurse walking towards her.

"I'm just here to check your vitals," the woman says. "You gave everyone quite the scare earlier. The good news is everything seems fine now."

"When will I be released?" Macey asks, already wanting to get out of the confinements of the hospital bed she's trapped in.

"Not for a while I'm afraid," the woman replies. "You were shot in the chest, went into shock during surgery and were in critical conditioner."

"I feel fine," Macey tries arguing with the nurse.

"How you feel now doesn't change what you went through during and after your shooting," the nurse tells her. "We'll need to keep you for a while under observation to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Macey nods.

"Everything looks fine, so I'll leave you two alone," the nurse says as she slowly backs towards the door. "If you need anything, just ring."

Macey sighs as the door closes.

"I know you're ready to get out of here, but don't over exert yourself," Preston warns her. "Otherwise you'll be in here longer than necessary."

She groans. She hates when he's right. She hates when anyone's right for that matter because it usually means that she's wrong.

"I'll be glad when I'm finally free of this place," Macey says.

"Even then the only place you'll be headed is your cabin to fully recuperate," Preston responds.

Macey smiles at him. She was thinking the exact same thing. If there's one thing she needs after all this, it's the serene feel of her cabin – that feeling of home that she doesn't get anywhere else.

"That sounds great," she says. In fact, it's one of the greatest things she's heard in a while.

She'll be on leave from work for a few weeks and she can't think of anywhere else she'd rather spend her time healing. There's no place more relaxing or comfortable. All the more so as long as Preston will be with her.


End file.
